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List Price $143.65Your Price $137.90

Jaws2 Fret Press without Fret Press Inserts

$119.35

Jaws2 Fret Press

About This Item

Hammering frets over an unsupported acoustic guitar top is risky! Safely press the frets in with Jaws2.

Jaws2 features special soundhole cauls and a self-leveling upper caul that take the stress off the guitar top, so you can safely press the frets into place. Jaws2 is a great idea that was conceived by luthier Bryan Galloup and refined by master fretman Dan Erlewine. Jaws2 utilizes the same 2-1/2" radius brass inserts as our other Jaws tools.

Jaws2 is a professional fretting tool with a self-leveling upper caul that adjusts easily to any neck. It includes five interchangeable 2-1/2" brass inserts, grooved to fit over the fretwire crown. The inserts match popular fretwire radii: 7-1/4", 9-1/2", 12" and 16", and a special 6"-radius insert holds down the fret ends for gluing. Additional radii are available.

Three wooden lower cauls are included: a contoured soundhole caul to span the braces inside a Martin-style guitar, a flat caul you can custom shape to fit over other bracings, and a felt-lined radiused caul to protect the back of the neck. Each caul features an ingenious internal magnet that holds it on the clamp jaw, allowing fumble-free setup.

The customized bar clamps feature four set screws to give you control over the pressure and balance of the clamp as you work.

Why press frets? Pressing the frets can save time and produce more consistent results. That's why it's the method that's widely used in guitar production. Pressed-in frets are less likely to have loose ends and uneven heights, because there's none of the recoil produced by hammer blows.

All Jaws fret presses are designed to work with our grooved brass Fret Press Inserts. The inserts fit over the fretwire and are interchangeable to match popular fretwire radii.

Customer Reviews

Not worth the time or money

As many have stated this tool is way to cumbersome for practical use. I had to stop after trying up to about the eight fret and will now have to pull those and start all over.

This tool would be considerably better if the wooden blocks accepted the whole metal piece that slides into it, that way it would have a level surface to sit on instead of major wobble that you get now. Another thing to add would be a set screw in the wood to tighten down against the metal insert so that way once you have (on a practice run) got the caul and wooden section lined up you could just move up or down the fretboard. As it is not the metal insert alway moves and you have to spend time getting those to pieces lined backed up and than try to get the device tightened before the glue dries.

Would not purchase again.

Response from StewMac

Hi James,
Thank you for sharing your honest feedback with us. We're sorry to hear that the Jaws2 Fret Press didn't meet your expectations. We stand behind our return policy -- if you are not satisfied you may return it anytime for a refund or exchange. Please call us at 1-800-848-2273.

In the meantime, I've placed your suggestion with our product development team -- customer comments like yours have been the catalyst to many changes to our products. We look forward to helping you with this.

Good concept, but could be improved

I've used the Jaws2 for several years and have found that the concept is good and it works OK to put frets in. It is much better than pounding them in and yields a reasonably consistent job. As others have noted, it won't work for some of the frets through the soundhole on a classical, so I use a regular C-clamp and wood caul for those. My complaint is that there is too much slop in the mechanism, and it can be difficult to keep the caul perpendicular to the fretboard so that the frets go in correctly. Tighter tolerances in the machining the parts would go a long way to making this a better and easier to use tool.

Work as described

The 3 included cauls fit most everything I need. I bought these to press frets in over a delicate vintage guitar's fingerboard extension. I've since used them to clamp frets in while gluing over the entire neck.

Terrific!

I bought this press recently and tried it once for pressing in a few frets on the heel of a guitar. Only thing is that the screw to hold the radius insert was missing. Also the caul was a bit dodgy, I had to fiddle around to make it work.However, I contacted StewMacs customer service to see if they could help me with the faulty parts. Mackenzie made an effort and now a new caul plus the missing screw is in the mail. Wonderful customer service!!!! Thanks StewMac!

Great tool.

Works great...especially from the 12th fret to the sound hole. I think I am done hammering-in frets. I have always wanted to attach the neck and then level sand the fretboard and then attach frets but did not see a good way to do that by hammering-in frets. This is a great solution. Thanks much!

Not the best quality...

Usually everything I get at Stew Mac is of good quality. Not so with this Jaws 2 fret press, cheap foreign manufacture shows and the threading is so poorly done that it is almost impossible to use, for the price it could be much better manufactured with proper cut threads, not cast on the clamp and, still leave plenty of profit.

Matt P.

Response from StewMac

Thanks for the feedback Matt. We are very sorry to hear that you are unhappy with this tool. I have sent you an email regarding a replacement or a refund as we believe the one you received may be defective. Give us a call if you have any questions! 800-848-2273

Spencer, Customer Support

Fretting is much easier now

For those of us who are obsessive about our fretwork, this is a great tool to have. I glue my frets in and this allows me to ensure even pressure on the whole fret while the glue cures. You have to get a little creative around the body joint of guitars, but this baby is worth it's weight in gold.